Building unit



April 8, 1952 E. CHAMBERLAIN 2,592,244

BUILDING UNIT Filed Oct. 22, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 1N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY April 8, 1952 E. L. CHAMBERLAIN BUILDING UNIT 2 SHEETSSHEET 2Filed Oct. 22, 1948 w. R w W4 R W a 5 2 2 1 1 F F .2 Z

:2 K r v i J 5 w F ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 8, 1952 BUILDING UNIT Eli L.Chamberlain, Norwood, Mass asslgnor to Bird & Son, inc., East Walpole,poration of Massachusetts Mass a cor- Application October 22, 1948,Serial No. 55,849

6 Claims. (01. 20-5) 1 My invention relates to sectional building unitsparticularly adapted for use in the formation of the exterior walls offrame constructions. The invention aims to provide building units orpanels which may be applied directly to the studs of the frameworkwithout intermediate sheathing with a relatively large number of exposednails, prone to become loosened from weathering in a comparatively shorttime with consequent displacement of the panel.

A panel constructed according to the invention comprises a rectangularbase or back portion and an exposed or front portion, also rectangularin configuration, which stands in offset relation with respect to thebase portion, the edges of both portions being rabbeted to the end thatupon application of the panel it may be securely interlocked withadjacent panels. The exposed portion may be offset only vertically orboth vertically and horizontally. Normally, the two portions representtwo separate sections suitably fastened together in the desiredrelation, butit is possible, although not necessarily practicable, toform the panel from a single piece of material. Alternatively, the baseand front portions of the panel may each be formed of two subsectionswhich may be vertically and horizontally offset to provide shiplappededges. I prefer that the rabbeting take the form of ship lappingregardless of the procedure followed in the construction of the panel,but in some cases other forms of interlocking lap may be indicated.

The panels may be manufactured using various materials and in variouscombinations. Preferably, I form the panel of sections of treated fiberboard, because of the insulating and other desirable qualities of suchboard and its reasonable cost. However, a panel formed of a base sec- 2tion of treated fiber board or plaster board, for example, and a facesection of asbestos board, particularly cement-asbestos board, hasconsiderable utility as do panels in which the face section is paintedor covered with an asbestos sheet. Also, for some applications, it maybe desirable to supply. a panel in which the exposed face is of plasticor metal which may or may not be covered with a vitreous or othercoating. A number of the advantages of the panel as constructed usingcement-asbestos board for the face section derive from the fact that thepanel can be secured without driving nails through the board. Thus,unlike conventional cement-asbestos siding, the panel does not rattle inthe wind and breakage is relatively rare.

In the manufacture of the preferred panel, I shiplap both thelongitudinal and transverse edges of two sections of fiber board andthereafter impregnate the sections with a suitable water-proofingsubstance, normally asphalt or other bituminous, resinous oroleoresinous material, such treatment serving to bind the surface fibersas well as to water-proof the" surfaces of the sections. The section toconstitute the front section of the completed panel is coated on itsface side with a high melting point plastic substance, ordinarilyhigh'melting point asphalt, and mineral granules are embedded in thecoating. A layer of adhesive, preferably hot asphalt, is applied to thelower half of one side of the other section, this section to be the backsection of the completed panel, the layer extending over the entirelongitudinal dimension of the section. Such section may be somewhat morerigid than the mineral surfaced section and may be of slightly reduceddimensions. The latter section, which may be ornamentized, as bystamping or embossing, is superimposed over the back section, with themineral surfaced face exposed, and firmly bonded thereto'in a mannersuch that the portion of the back section free of adhesive is notcovered by the mineral surfaced section and such that the correspondingedges of the sections are in parallel. In case the .mineral surfacedsection is offset horizontally as well as vertically, the area of theback section exposed by the horizontal offset need not, of course, becoated with adhesive. In lieu of an adhesive, nails or other fasteningelements may be used to join the sections.

In applying the completed panel, the same is nailed to the studs throughthe portion of the back section not covered by the mineral surfacedsection, the nailheads being subsequently concealed as the work proceedsby the mineral surfaced sections of one or more adjoining panelsdepending on whether the panels are applied in straight or staggeredcourses and on whether the sections of the panel are offset onlyvertically or both vertically and horizontally.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings illustrating preferred forms thereof and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view in elevation showing a panel as applieddirectly to studding. and illustrating the interlocking of adjacentpanels, portions of the panel shown in toto being cut out in order tobetter illustrate the rabbeting and the relationship of the two sectionsconstituting the panel;

Fig. 2 represents a particularly preferred formv sections constitutingthe panel are offset hori- 1.

zontally as well as vertically.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the numeral H) denotes the studding to whichthe panel is secured by nails I l driven through the back or unexposedsection I2 which extends to a point l4 below the :1

upper edge of front or exposed section l5. The latter section isprovided with an ornamental facing simulating wire-cut and smoothsurfaced brick, indicated by the numerals l6 and I1, respectively.

The lower edge of the back section i2 rests upon and interlocks with theupper edge of the back section l8 of the panel next below, the face ofsection i8 being covered by the ornamentizecl section l5. rests upon andinterlocks with the upper edge of the ornamentized section IQ of thelower panel, this point being denoted by the numeral 20. In applying thepanels it is obviously advantageous to work from bottom to top whereconcealment of the nails is desired.

Although, as indicated by the views. afforded by the cut-out portions inFig. l, the panels in the preferred embodiment of the invention areformed of only two sections having suitably milled edges, it willbereadily appreciated that each section may be constituted of twosubsections bonded together in offset relation and the necessity formilling thereby avoided.

The panel, indicated generally by the numeral 2|,which abuts the panelconstituted of sections l8 and I9 is, of course, similarly shiplapped,the abutting edge conforming with the corresponding edge of the adjacentpanel.

Referring now to Fig. 2 wherein the dotted lines delineate concealededges. and wherein like numerals denote like parts in Fig. 1, and toFigs. 3 and 4, it will be seen that the ornamentized section I ivertically offset with relation to the back section 12 to a degreeequivalent to about. one-half the width of the back section. Such degreeof vertical offset is not critical, but represents the preferredconstruction. While the depth of the shiplapping is largely arbitrary,the extent of the cutting with relation both to the Similarly the loweredge of section i5 4 edge of the section and the face of the section isalways such as to provide for adequately firm joints. In the drawings,the cut from the edge is denoted by the numeral 22, that from the faceby the numeral 23.

In the modification represented by Fig. 5, in which the back and frontsections are numbered 24 and 25, respectively, the preferred verticaloffset is the same as in the case of the most preferred form of theinvention illustrated by the other drawings. The horizontal offset, 1.e., the distance 26 may, with advantage, be slightly less than half thevertical offset, although this is not essential. The chief advantage ofthe horizontal offset is that it decreases the opportunity for anydirect penetration of water through the joints between panels.

Obvious modifications which will occur to those experienced in this artare, of course, considered as embraced by my invention.

I claim:

l. A building unit comprising a substantially rigid, rectangular backportion and a rectangular front portion in vertically offset relation,said portions having rabbeted edges adapting the same for interlockingengagement with the corresponding portions of similar units, eachsubportion delineated by the rabbeting being vertically offsetwithrelation to all of the other such subeportions.

2. A building unit comprising rectangular front and back portions invertically and horizontally offset relation, said portions havingrabbetted edges adapting the same for interlocking engagement with thecorresponding portions of similar units, each sub-portion delineated bythe rabbeting being vertically and horizontally offset with relation toall of the other such sub-portions.

3. A panel for wall construction having a substantially rigid backsection formed of asphalt-impregnated fiber board and a front, sectionconstituted of such board surfaced with a high melting point asphalt inwhich mineral aggregates are embedded, said sections standing invertically offset relation and having shiplapped edges adapting the samefor interlocking engagement with the corresponding sections of similarpanels, each sub-section delineated by the shiplapping being verticallyoffset with relation to all of the other such sub-sections.

4. A panel for wall construction having a substantially rigid backsection formed of asphaltimpregnated fiber board and a front sectionconstituted of such board surfaced with a high melting point asphalt inwhich mineral aggregates are embedded, said sections standing invertically and horizontally offset relation and having shiplapped edgesadapting the same for interlocking engagement with the correspondingsections of similar panels, each sub-section delineated by theshiplapping being vertically and horizontally oifset with relation toall of the other such sub-sections.

5. A panel for wall construction having a substantially rigidrectangular back section of as: phalt-impregnated fiber board and arectangular front section constituted of such board surfaced with a highmelting point asphalt in whichmineral aggregates are embedded, saidsections being vertically offset, each being constituted of twosub-sections vertically and horizontally offset to form shiplap edges,either sub-section of either section being vertically offset relative toeither of the sub-sections of the other section.

5 6. A panel for wall construction having a sub- REFERENCES CITEDstantially rigid rectangular back section of as- The followingreferences are of record in the phalt-impregnated fiber board and arectangular m i t front section constituted of such board surfaced e 01S with a. high melting point asphalt in which min- 5 UNITED STATESPATENTS eral aggregates are embedded, said sections being Nu b r Nam Datvertically ofiset, each being constituted of two 374,354 McCarthy 20,1383 sub-sections vertically and horizontally ofiset to 629,100Blanchard July 18, 1899 form shiplap edges, either sub-section of either1,422,949 Evans July 18, 1922 section being vertically and horizontallyofiset 10' 21,205,798 Mattes June 25, 1940 relative to either of thesub-sections of the other 2,283,582 Scherer May 19, 1942 section.2,427,879 Robertson Sept. 23, 1947 ELI L. CHAMBERLAIN.

